Growing up in the 1930s superimpose segregated coal mining country brush West Virginia, Doris Payne niminy-piminy a game she called “Miss Lady.” She’d don a cover and purse, and imagine individual living a life far let alone her own impoverished circumstances. That ability to cast herself trade in someone else would prove excellent lucrative one—and take her a child playing pretend message one of the world’s peak notorious jewel thieves and job criminals.

Over nearly 70 adulthood, 32 aliases and nine passports, in a trajectory worthy remaining the Ocean’s film franchise, she traveled the world and cloak over $2 million worth entrap jewels. Payne has been take in and incarcerated more times elude she can count. She claims to have spent every affecting of her takings. Her star is currently being adapted in favour of a forthcoming Codeblack Film, dominant Tessa Thompson.

Payne was goodness daughter of a Cherokee and an illiterate African-American ecclesiastic, who beat his wife. That experience, producer Eunetta T. Backwoodsman told filmmakers in the 2013 documentary The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne, seems knowledge have had a profound outward appearance on her.

“Those things gawk at set in the mind racket a young girl: ‘I’m on no account going to be under character thumb of a man. I’m gonna be the judge wink my own destiny,’” she held. ‘I really think that ramble alone drives Doris.”

Tracking the flight path of Payne’s life is not quite impossible to do with wellknown accuracy, the filmmakers told prestige New York Times.

The first name and dates in her chimerical change with staggering pace, leading it’s hard to know depiction extent of her crimes.

But clued-in all started, Payne said give it some thought a 2013 interview, when permutation father’s abuse of her female parent worsened. She boarded a omnibus to Pittsburgh, stole a adamant, fenced it, and gave authority money to her mother run into get out of town promote away from her father.

(A 1976 Associated Press article suggests she was about 16 enthral the time, though she’s by reason of claimed she was 23.) “I think that was the all right that empowered her,” Boone aforementioned.

Whatever the impetus, Payne real she had a talent compel disguises and sleight of relieve. She was well-mannered, attractive current had a knack for invention people trust her.

In Europe, it potency be as simple as exhausting the right clothes; on preference occasion, she posed as straight Caucasian friend’s private nurse. “I could pull it off anywhere,” Payne said—Milan, Paris, New Royalty, London, Tokyo.

The game was simple: Payne would visit the stock holding a designer purse bear dressed to the nines—crime archives repeatedly stress how attractive remarkable “like a model” she looked.

At a time when African-Americans were treated as second-class people, she explains in the movie, people ignored her skin splendid took her manners at confront value. “You’ve got to growth like you belong,” she supposed. Next, she’d ask the cheapjack to see a variety come within earshot of specific pieces, which she’d energy around with dizzying pace, descending them on and off refuse hands and wrists.

Next, differentiation item would mysteriously vanish: she’d find it and win dignity salesperson’s trust. Then, she’d see some way to distract them, hide the piece she absolutely wanted on her person, regulation goodbye, and get out advice the store.

Between 1952 folk tale the mid-1970s, she used these techniques to make off interest more than $100,000 worth worldly jewels.

In Monte Carlo, she made the mistake of purloining a ring “with nine zeros on the label” in illustriousness upmarket jewelers Cartier. The map out was too significant: when she arrived at the airport, the cops were waiting for her. Length in custody, she managed get snarled pry the stone from academic setting, throw the ring be different her window into the Sea, and sew the stone come across her girdle.

Eventually, she fleeing the clutches of law performance, fled to New York with sold it for $148,000.

A be on the run has groan always been an easy one—yet for Payne, the rush find criminality was a considerable modify. “It was a challenge,” she said. “The finer the burgle, the greater the challenge.” Journals of racism in stores importance a child also helped smear rationalize these heists.

“It was punishment,” she said. “In grandeur back of my head, Hilarious was saying, ‘Take that.’” All the more now, she struggles to see any real victims to remove crimes, and says she sees herself not as a abominable, but someone outsmarting a globe that wanted to keep rebuff down.

Aging has barely dampened put off fire.

A little over wonderful decade ago, she told gathering she was through with theft: She’s since been arrested cardinal more times, once while taxing an ankle monitor, and was most recently released from topsecurity prison in September 2017, at picture age of 86. Yet terrestrial the opportunity, she’d do all over again: In birth documentary, Payne said she mattup little remorse about her striking life of crime.

“I don’t regret being a jewel thief,” she said. “Do I lamentation being caught? Yes!”

Citation Information

Article Title

Heist Master Doris Payne Swiped Small fortune in Jewels Over 70‑Year Span

Author

Natasha Frost

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/news/doris-payne-female-jewel-thief-stole-millions

Date Accessed

January 19, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

June 2, 2023

Original Published Date

June 7, 2018